Grateful to be Me.

I have a pretty wonderful life. A good, kind husband. Children that make me smile and are oh so lovable. A comfortable home. And a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my life. I wouldn't trade anyone for any part of my life. I have been so richly blessed with the good things in life. And today, especially I am grateful for those things.

I was awake all night long. Let me repeat. ALL>NIGHT>LONG. I had two children in my bed. The 3 year old kept having dreams about fighting with the 5 year old, and would randomly scream out and start thrashing around...which would wake the baby and she would start crying. This went on all night. And to top it all off, I have a lovely case of mastitis, which peaked around 3 am. Fever, chills, aches and pains like you cannot believe. Worst night ever. I didn't fall asleep until after 5 am. It was horrible. 

I texted Justin at 5 am, 8 am his time in Pittsburg and told him to pray for me. Then I texted my mom and told her to move to Oregon so I will have someone to take care of me. Then I finally fell asleep. 

All three girls woke up sometime before 7. I told Katie I was horribly sick, and she would have to make a bed for me on the couch. my girls felt bad for me, and quietly played while I slept on the couch for a little while. Then I got up and tried to make breakfast. Last night after dinner, I mixed up the dry ingredients for whole wheat pancakes so it would be one less thing in the morning to do. This was before my illness set in, and I think it was providence, because had I not done that, my kids would have had to have wheat thins for breakfast, and there weren't very many of those anyway.  

I burned several pancakes as I had to leave them on the griddle while I ran to the bathroom to throw up and cry. Then I finished off the rest of the batter, poured some syrup on them, and let the girls have at it, while I crashed on the couch again. I am not sure how long I slept, but I know it wasn't long enough. 

I was really, really grateful we had leftover spaghetti from yesterday in the fridge, and canned soup that I could manage to heat up for lunch and dinner. Bless canned soup! 

With the help of some heavy dosages of Ibuprofen and rice bags, and lots of water and nursing...I started to feel human again. 

What a day. 

It was one of those days, that makes you so grateful for what you take for granted. So grateful for good kids, supportive husband, and lots of temporal blessings. I am so blessed.

She's 5

This beautiful girl is 5 today. I showed her some pictures today of when she was born, her first year of life, and then each birthday since then. She enjoyed that, but mostly just wanted to get back to playing with her new presents. And can I say that I did a pretty darn good job with presents for her this year, because I did. 

We replaced her beloved "Pinky" that got lost when we moved. I made her a twin sized pinky last year in an effort to be both practical and sentimental, but she still yearned for one that was just like the old Pinky. lucky for us, the original Pinky is a fairly common baby blanket, and we picked up one that only had a difference in the embroidery in the corner. 

The other little bit of luck for us, I went to a garage sale this summer that had all sorts of Hello Kitty stuff for a quarter or two. So I picked up a few things for her birthday and Christmas. She got a stuffed Hello Kitty today, and she has hardly put it down since she opened it. It even took the place of honor, tuckedunder her arm as she went to sleep. Score. 

Grace got the other award for picking out a great present. She got a new big pink ball to replace Katie's that got popped last summer. Do you see a trend here? Anyway, Katie was so thrilled about it. My heart just melted to see the sisterly love. Grace came up with the idea herself, and was so excited to give it to Katie. And the thoughtfulness was not lost on Katie. She really, really appreciated that Gracie picked it out for her to replace the old ball she loved so much. And I will never forget Gracie's happy face as she watched Katie with the new ball. Brought tears to my eyes. 

She got spoiled by aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas. Each present lit up her face, and she has been a busy girl with all her new things. Thanks on her behalf!

We had a quiet birthday...no big friend party. I've decided those are just too much for my kiddos to handle while they are just little. So we invited one friend to lunch, and then had a quiet family party after dinner. Lots of fun, little stress. Best. Idea. Ever. Except there is too much birthday cake left...

Katie had definite plans about that cake by the way. Chocolate on the inside. Pink on the outside. Hello Kitty and of course, candy ornamentation. She wanted to pipe the bow on herself so I outlined it for her, and then she did the rest. She was very pleased with herself. Then she added all the M&Ms. She sure likes to have a hand in decorating her cake. She always tells me she is going to be a baker when she grows up and I wouldn't be surprised. She is always writing up recipes and experimenting in the kitchen.

I love this little girl. She sure does teach me a lot. Pushes me to be better and inspires me to never give up. I wish these years weren't flying by.

I will post pictures of her birthday at another time, when I am not using the old laptop. It's card reader doesn't work.

Date Night

Justin is pretty much the best husband ever. Not because of big things but all the little things he does, and above all who he tries to be. he serves me in a hundred ways...

This week he supported me in my calling at church. He made dinners, did dishes, put kids to bed, and sacrificed a few bike rides (despite the calling of his new road bike) so that I could work on all sorts of things for the YW Night of Excellence Program. Not too mention putting up with me in moments of stress and fatigue and frustration.

He didn't get mad that I left my phone outside in the rain for three days. He just laughed and took it apart, dried it out, and put it back together. And miracle of miracles, it works!

He takes the garbage out, and cleans out the fridge. He vacuums, and cleans the bathrooms because he knows those are jobs I don't really like doing.

He calls to set up appointments because he knows I hate calling people. 

He rubs my neck that is always sore from nursing a baby or sleeping with a 3 year old who keeps having nightmares.

He listens to me and loves me. All of me. THe good, the bad, and the ugly. He's my superman. And pretty much my everything.

sometimes blurry pictures are the best.